Information for students

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How to make a complaint to the VET Student Loans Ombudsman

We can help:

- students studying a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course, and who have accessed the VET FEE-HELP or the VET Student Loans programs to cover the cost of their studies, in full or in part

 people who believe they may have a VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans debt they should not have

 students who feel they have been treated unfairly by their VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loan approved provider.

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Telephone

You can contact us by telephone, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). In Australia, call: 1300 362 072 .

Using an interpreter

You can make a complaint in your language. Call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) in Australia on 131 450, outside Australia call +61 3 9203 4027. We will pay for the interpreter.

If you are deaf, hearing or sight impaired

You can contact us via the National Relay Service. Teletypewriter (TTY) users phone 133 677 and then ask for 1300 362 072. Speak and Listen users phone 1300 555 727 and then ask for 1300 362 072. Internet Relay users connect to the National Relay Service inter-net-relay.nrscall.gov.au and then ask for 1300 362 072.

An Ombudsman is a person who helps people who have problems with Australian businesses and government agencies. There are different Ombudsman for different businesses and parts of government.

If the Ombudsman finds that a business or government agency has done the wrong thing or treated someone unfairly, they can recommend a remedy. That remedy might be, an apology, better information, a new decision, or a refund.

The VET Student Loans program commenced on 1 January 2017, replacing the VET FEE-HELP scheme. This is a new student loans program, to give eligible students access to quality higher level vocational education and training (VET) qualifications including certain diplomas, advanced diplomas, graduate certificates or graduate diploma courses. This program particularly assists those students who could not otherwise afford to pay for their training upfront.

For more information, including information for students who wish to access the program, go to the Department of Education and Training’s website.

Our services are free, independent and impartial—we do not take sides.

It is important to note that ’students’ includes people who are studying, have studied and people who may have never studied, yet have been signed up for a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course.

We can only help students studying a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course, and who have accessed the VET FEE-HELP or the VET Student Loans programs to cover the cost of their studies, in full or in part.

We can help people who believe they may have a VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans debt they should not have, as well as help students who feel they have been treated unfairly by their VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loan approved provider (provider).

You are able to lodge a complaint with us about public or private VET Student Loans or VET FEE-HELP providers. You are required to follow your provider’s internal complaints process and if you are still unhappy with the result, you can and should contact us.

A VET FEE-HELP student is someone who studied a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course with a VET FEE-HELP approved provider and signed up to a VET FEE-HELP loan to cover the costs of their studies, in part or in full. This may include people who unintentionally signed up to a course and are unaware they have a VET student loan debt.

A VET Student Loans student is someone who has studied or is studying a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course with a VET Student Loans approved provider and signed up to a VET Student Loan to cover the costs of their studies, in part or in full.

No. You can tell us about a problem without giving us your name and contact details—this is called an anonymous complaint.

We will still try to look into your complaint, but we may not be able to contact you to tell you what happened. And depending on what the problem is, we may not be able to investigate it without knowing who is experiencing the problem.

When you contact us about a problem, we will carefully consider if we can help you. In some cases, the Ombudsman may decide not to investigate a complaint. This might be because:

you have not complained to your provider first, or

another organisation is better able to help you.

If we decide not to investigate, we will tell you why and let you know what to do next.

If we do investigate your complaint, we will contact your provider to ask them about what happened. When we receive all the information we need, we will decide whether your provider has followed their rules, policies, and procedures correctly and treated you fairly. We will tell you what we have decided and why.

The time it takes to investigate a complaint varies. Some problems are simple to resolve while others are more complex and take longer to investigate. We will keep you and your provider informed about the progress of your complaint.

To investigate a problem, we will usually need to give some information about the complaint to the provider to find out what has happened. This will include your name and a description of your complaint, unless you have asked us not to provide specific information.

We will treat your information with privacy and respect, and collect, store, use and disclose your personal information only in accordance with Australian privacy laws.